Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Every time I get writer’s block, I head somewhere else to write. I don’t just mean grabbing my laptop and going to a coffee shop, either (though I do that too)

Admob (the mobile ad network owned by Google) recently surveyed 1431 tablet device owners to learn more about their usage habits. The survey found that gaming was the number 1 activity for tablet owners and searching is the 2nd most popular activity on tablet devices . This is noteworthy as this is a behavior change from traditional desktop and laptop usage, where searching the web and using email are the top activities.

Anyone willing to bet on Google’s attempts to get social would have to have deep pockets and a short memory. For years, Google crowed about the fact that Orkut outweighed Facebook in two of the most important developing markets (Brazil & India), but that is likely to change soon (Facebook… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Functionalism is a concept that first intrigued me when I studied Anthropology in college, as I really responded to the idea that people do certain things for certain individual reasons that matter only to them, reasons that may seem crazy to outsiders, but that truly do make up a necessary part of… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article

Functionalism is a concept that first intrigued me when I studied Anthropology in college, as I really responded to the idea that people do certain things for certain individual reasons that matter only to them, reasons that may seem crazy to outsiders, but that truly do make up a necessary part of… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Functionalism is a concept that first intrigued me when I studied Anthropology in college, as I really responded to the idea that people do certain things for certain individual reasons that matter only to them, reasons that may seem crazy to outsiders, but that truly do make up a necessary part of…

Hitwise published their March 2011 search market share report. This time Bing has reached 30% market share, while Google’s share dropped to under 65%. Google is still leading, but Bing continues to grow in market share

Keywords are at the heart of Paid Search (at least in the current SEM environment).   Therefore, choosing the right keywords along with implementing the right bidding strategy can have a significant impact on your SEM performance.  When developing a keyword targeting strategy, having a solid understanding of your match type options is extremely important, along with how to use those match types effectively.  I think it’s safe to say that most marketers involved with SEM understand the three basic match types, including broad, phrase, and exact match. Until recently, these were the only match types at your disposal.  That was until last year, when Google launched Modified Broad Match .  It’s a versatile match type that can be a great option for targeting a wider range of queries, without losing a lot of control like with standard broad match.  I’ve used modified broad match extensively since it launched, and I’ve been very pleased with the results.  Note, modified broad match only applies to Google AdWords at this time. As a quick example, here are the four match type options for the keyword Ping Golf Driver: Broad: ping golf driver Phrase: “ping golf driver” Exact: [ping golf driver] Modified Broad Match: +ping +golf +driver With broad match, many queries related to ping golf drivers can trigger your ads.  This can yield the most impressions and clicks, but can also be the most dangerous option for you.  If you run broad match keywords, you need to keep a very close eye on raw queries triggering your ads to ensure they aren’t unrelated and untargeted.

According to data from Experian Hitwise , The New York Times paywall has caused a decrease in the overall visits to NYTimes.com of 5 to 15 percent. Click to read the rest of this post..